Taking my car for the first time by yourself at night

I was first shocked that you asked so early after crashing you mom's car, that I wasn't prepared to say "no". But you asked anyways and I had no choice except to say yes.

So after traveling to your high school soccer game in Watertown and seeing the first half and heading back to the second performance of your swing choir dance recital, and remembering to take pictures this time, I gave you the keys and reminded you that I had a big day on Saturday and that I wanted you home by midnight and for sure no drinking and driving or problems and you said ok... ok... ok....

and when I woke up at midnite from your brothers music on the computer and checked outside for the car it was not there. I tried calling you and texting you but got no answer. I called your brother and he tried to reach you and he was also worried, which surprised me.

At 4:30 I tried again, got way too worried. But didn't know who to call and what to say.

At 6:00 I called and you answered from the next room. You left a handwritten note trying to explain everything and you promised it would never happen again.

Yes, the problem is solved. You will never use my car again at night for a long, long time

Spring Break

I stopped by your mom's house the day you left.

I dropped off spending money for the trip and a letter giving permission for your mom to take you out of the country. It took three stops and several requests to finally get it notarized.

I helped pack your clothes and watched the pizza burn before i had a chance to take it out. But everyone ate the pizza anyways so it was not a problem.

I loaded the car with the suitcases, while your brothers continued their video game and your sister got her friend to take her to the store to buy batteries. I left right before it was time to leave to Chicago to catch your flight.

I did not want to get in the way and cry.

Driving your mom's car the Saturday after you got your license

You crashed five blocks from the house.

Someone took a left turn on the boulevard and hit you.

Your mom called and I dropped everything and came by the accident scene.

The airbags were blown and the car was totaled and all I could say was 'If you wanted to get out of soccer practice that bad, you could have just skipped..."

Driving a car is not as easy as it looks...

First of all, getting to sign up for the drivers education classes and figuring out which nights you could make it to the sessions proved more difficult then it should have been.

You had wanted to get your license originally on your sixteen birthday. But, we had your sweet sixteen party at the hotel (it has been a year already since it happened...) and that took more time then we both had planned for. Then we got off track and when we finally scheduled time to go to take the written drivers test, it had been a while since you were in class and you flunked it the first time.

You realized studying does help and two weeks later you passed. Summer came and you were in the pre-college program and living in a dormitory. You signed up for fall soccer and then winter indoor soccer and we got near January again. You looked on-line to sign up for the Road Test and the first date you could get was about a month away and only a 45 minute drive from the house, a little far, but reasonable. I already had a commitment I could not get out of, so I asked you to reschedule.

When you called me with the next available road test location and date, I felt I could not disappoint you and cleared my calendar. It was almost perfect, about three weeks from your birthday, only three and a half hours away and at 8:20 in the morning. When the day arrive, we left at four a.m. and I drove the first two hours. I got so tired, that I let you drive and actually fell asleep while you were driving (which it hard for me to do...). We made it on time and the road test examiner was surprised that we had driven so far, that early in the morning.

The examiner did not seemed as friendly as I would have liked (the other one was more talkative and have lived near our hometown...) and when he came back, I thought you had failed. He did too. He started out saying " Well, initially she was driving too slow and it forced other cars behind us to try and pass to get around us, which caused a unsafe driving situation" and then said " at the stop sign she almost pulled out in front of another car..." otherwise she drove very well, she passes.

After you took your picture that Tuesday and looked so proud...

actually you were driving better then both your brothers did around the same time they were getting their license....